Diversity spend targets are reported on. That means the designation has to be verified, current, and traceable to an award somebody can defend.
A checkbox on a supplier profile is not evidence, and a spend report built on checkboxes does not survive being questioned.
MBE, WBE, DBE, SDVOSB, VOSB, HUBZone and small-business status are filed with issuer and reference number, and shown publicly only once an operator has confirmed them.
CertificationsA designation that expired in March is still being counted in December, because nothing withdrew it when the date passed.
Whether a designation counts is derived at read time from its status and expiry, so a lapsed one stops being returned and stops being counted the day it lapses.
CertificationsPublic procurement is reviewed after the fact. Reconstructing why a supplier won, and who else was invited, is often impossible.
Invitations, bids, questions, the award and every subsequent change are recorded in an append-only, hash-chained log that can demonstrate it has not been edited since.
Audit & compliance